Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has urged his side to respond swiftly after their title hopes were severely dented by a 3-1 loss to Southampton on Saturday.
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Following what Mancini called a "worse than poor" performance at St Mary's, the Citizens then watched in agony as rivals Manchester United stretched their lead at the top of the table to a likely unassailable 12 points, with a 2-0 win over Everton on Sunday.
With only 12 games left this season, the Italian wants a response from his charges.
"When you play football and you are a top player, you should take your responsibility, always," he told Sky Sports. "It's not always the fault of the manager. The players should take responsibility - if they have big balls. If not, they can't play in a top team."
After winning their first title in 44 years last term, City have had their fair share of struggles this season. A group-stage exit from the UEFA Champions League coupled with their failure to keep pace with their city rivals in the title race has highlighted a season to forget at Eastlands.
However, despite admitting disappointment over this year's campaign, Mancini is looking to the FA Cup to resurrect their flailing season and expects his players to be fully committed till the end.
"For a team like us which has won the title, won the FA Cup, won the Charity Shield after 38 years, it's normal the year after as champions could be difficult," said Mancini.
"But in this moment we should do more because we have 12 games, we should get the maximum points we can get, we have the FA Cup and this season is not finished.
"I don't want to see a player like we saw. A player who plays like that should stay at home, not even be on the pitch. Usually, we play well and even when we don't play well we put everything on the pitch but we didn't even do that."
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